Wedding Party

Groomsmen gifts ... same etiquette?

I'm under the very general belief that things the bridal party wears for the wedding should not be considered their gift . There are exceptions to this I think -- for example, I received a set of pearls (necklace, bracelet, and earrings) from a dear friend when I was a bridesmaid in her wedding and this was also our gift. They were stunning, she knew all of us loved pearls, and so she did this for us. I loved it.

That being said, my fiance is talking about his ideas for his groomsmen ... first started with ideas like cufflinks etc, and is now talking about buying them all their suit. We aren't doing a type you can rent, so he wants to cover their slacks, vest, shirt, tie and suspenders.

I'm not sure this is the best route to go. 1) it can get pricey ... and 2) is that really a groomsman gift since it's what they are wearing to the wedding?

I'm going to bring it up with him but I guess I have two questions.

1) Do you agree that this isn't the greatest idea of all time?
2) Can you give me some other groomsmen ideas so I can give him some potential alternatives in our discussion? He's admittedly not very creative when it comes to these things! :):) 

Re: Groomsmen gifts ... same etiquette?

  • Jen4948Jen4948 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    Yes, groomsmen's gift etiquette is the same as bridesmaid's gift etiquette.
  • labrolabro member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    Yes it's the same. Do they like to drink? How about a wall-mounted beer bottle opener? Or a bottle of their favorite scotch/gin/sake/whatever? How about a really nice knife? You can even engrave the handle with their name or first and last initial or something. My FI got that as a gift once. The edge sucked but he took it home and sharpened it and uses it almost daily for random things. I honestly think suits are really nice but guys can have different tastes in suits and some of them may already own a nice one or maybe they don't care for the color of the suit, shirt, tie, whatever that you're giving them.



  • edited May 2014
    Yes, it's the same etiquette for gm gifts. 

    A suit isn't a great gift unless the men can pick out whatever suits they want (via a gift card to control the cost) and they like to wear suits and have a use for them after the wedding. 

    Buy the men something that is related to their hobbies or interests. Now, if I told my husband to do that, he would be genuinely confused. He thinks money is a great gift, so he'd want to put money in cards or envelopes. And his friends would be delighted to get money. Dumb, huh? 

    I would suggest that after you make your reasonable suggestions about gifts, let your fi make the final decision on the gifts for his men and you make the decision on the gifts for your women. Hopefully, everyone will know that the two of you appreciated them. 
                       
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